Jeff Sears gave up seriously working for a living, but not seriously working. He is a semi-retired Certified Financial Planner and a full time head coach of a high school boys lacrosse team. His former lives included teaching social studies in high school and working as an analyst in public policy.
However, he still takes his own lacrosse playing seriously, playing Grandmasters Lacrosse. As much as he might like the designation of “grandmaster”, his knees are beginning to limit his time on the field and he has taken up swimming.
Jeff’s belief that a great education and athletic success are not mutually exclusive concepts lead to him accept a position on the Heisman Club board. He also likes the idea that Heisman Club funds are dedicated exclusively to athletics.
A memory that still burns bright for Jeff follows:
In 1979, my sophomore year on men's lacrosse team, the Yeoman hosted the Spartans of Division 1 Michigan State on a fine spring afternoon. (Earlier in the season, "State" had handily defeated Oberlin, which, no doubt, was intimidated by playing in Spartan Stadium, with its state-of-the-art "Astroturf" surface.) Down by one late in the game, senior attackman Brian Darby scored from the left wing to tie the game at 10. With time running out, Dave Wohl, a diminutive first-year attackman, scored from the right wing on a classic 4 vs. 3 fast break to win the game. My teammates and I walked to dinner that evening feeling like true Davids!”
“I used to think that coaching was not that important but now I think that great coaching is essential to not only achieving team success but also to the long-term development of individual student athletes, on and off the playing surface.”
